Dec. 1, 2012

Loading Photo Galleries ...

Written by

Evidence might have radiated blocks from the explosion site in the Richmond Hill subdivision. "The assumption people make is that an explosion destroys everything," says Peter Beering, an Indianapolis terrorism consultant. "That's far from the case." / Matt Kryger / The Star from WTHR Chopper 13

More

ADVERTISEMENT

As the probe of the Richmond Hill blast that killed two people enters a third week, investigators continue to grapple with fundamental questions.

Who did it? How did they do it? Why?

Despite what is believed -- or assumed -- the answers in such cases are often elusive.

Explosions and, similarly, arson, are among the most difficult crimes to solve and prosecute, and can take years to close. Consider: Nationally, only 19.9 percent of 43,412 arsons ended in arrests in 2011, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In Indianapolis, the rate is about the same.

"This is a furtive crime and is the hardest to prove," said Peter Beering, an Indianapolis terrorism consultant, former director of the Marion County Emergency Management Agency and a Marion County prosecutor specializing in arson for 15 years. "First you have to prove what happened. Then comes the whodunit part."

While investigators pick through debris at the blast site, the investigation is entering the next stage -- the tedious work of analyzing thousands of pieces of evidence, large and small, already taken away to the Marion County and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives crime labs.

At the same time, detectives are pounding the pavement looking for the person who caused the explosion. Authorities said the deaths of Jennifer and John "Dion" Longworth were homicides, which means someone intended the explosion. The Longworths lived next door to the house that exploded. Investigators have searched homes and cars -- of whom they won't say -- for clues that corroborate what they've found in the rubble.

Sources close to the investigation have told The Star there is a working theory. Investigators think someone filled the house with gas and then ignited it remotely. But proving that -- as well as who was behind it -- is another matter.

The biggest obstacle is that evidence in fires and explosions is often destroyed or damaged and what is left requires scientific examination.

Witnesses to the crime also are difficult to find. Often, arsons are planned, then committed at night and the perpetrator has an alibi far from the scene, experts said. The dearth of witnesses puts a burden on investigators to build a solid circumstantial case -- and on prosecutors to present lab evidence cogently to jurors.

(Page 2 of 4)

In one of the city's most notorious recent arsons, prosecutors dropped charges against the lone suspect in the Cosmopolitan on the Canal apartments fire in 2009 because of a lack of evidence.

Authorities had said Brandon Burns, a homeless man, admitted to his ex-girlfriend and five other people he set fire to the complex. After 14 months in jail, Burns was released and the case is still unsolved.

Blasts scatter evidence

Explosions are even harder to solve than fires because evidence can be spread blocks away from the source of the blast.

"A fire is contained, compared to an explosion," said Robert Corry, a fire consultant and arson expert in Massachusetts. "There is more area to search with explosions."

But, experts said, a good investigator can do a lot with what looks like a little.

A single screw or a tool left behind, for instance.

Fingerprints might be hard to collect but they're attainable, even from charred surfaces. The same goes for DNA, like a loose strand of hair. Detectives usually can find out where a fire started and what chemicals were used. And they always know where an explosion started and often the cause.

"The assumption people make is that an explosion destroys everything," Beering said. "That's far from the case."

Putting together the evidence takes time, however.

For example, it took 53 weeks after a pipe bomb exploded in a Castleton Kmart in 1989, injuring a 5-year-old girl, until investigators linked the device to a knife and screwdriver found in the trunk of a Noblesville teen-ager's car.

By then, however, it was too late to arrest him. David Swinford had committed suicide two days after the bomb exploded.

Experts said the Richmond Hill investigators' task is even more complex and that it was vital to conduct a flawless investigation from the beginning.

Indianapolis authorities said the evidence gathering began the minute the first 911 call was made.

Fire crews weren't sure what they were dealing with when they arrived at the panic-stricken Richmond Hill subdivision at 11:10 p.m. on Nov. 10.

(Page 3 of 4)

Witnesses reported a sonic-like boom. Some suspected a plane or drone had crashed. Others thought a meteorite had hit. Pieces of a mysterious white substance, later determined to be insulation, wafted from the sky.

Indianapolis Homeland Security Chief Gary Coons said investigators quickly suspected an explosion at 8349 Fieldfare, however, because it had the most damage. But they didn't know what caused it. It could have been from a faulty gas line or it could have been a bomb.

Firefighters searching for victims guarded against both. They carried gas detectors to make sure other homes hadn't exploded or were about to blow. At the same time, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department bomb squad showed up with explosives-sniffing dogs.

"If it was a bomb, we wanted to make sure there wasn't a secondary bomb somewhere," Coons said.

The fires were put out within an hour. After residents were led from their homes to a nearby school, police blocked off the area and the hunt for evidence began.

The next morning, Coons called the ATF for assistance. More than 10 agents eventually arrived. Investigators from The National Transportation Safety Board came to inspect the underground gas pipes. They found no leaks, no faults.

Two days later, a small squadron of insurance investigators had also moved in to conduct concurrent investigations.

IMPD detectives began tracing the human element. Who lived in the home? Where were they? Did they have money problems?

Nine days later, officials made a troubling and painful determination: The deaths were homicides.

Authorities have since served more than 15 search warrants trying to figure out who is behind the blast. The couple who owned the house that exploded was at a casino at the time of the blast. They have retained a lawyer, who said they haven't done anything wrong.

"Finding who that someone is is where we are right now," said Public Safety Director Troy Riggs. "This could take some time."

No arrests have been made. No suspects have been identified.

(Page 4 of 4)

Working backwards

While officials would not discuss what evidence they had gathered so far, experts said examining evidence is a process of reverse engineering.

"This is the business of looking at everything that is left," Beering said, "looking backward at what happened and figuring out how and why it happened."

To the naked eye, Beering said the damage "looks like a jumbled mess, but the trained investigators can tell a lot from where parts of the home landed what kind of force there was" and where it began.

"It's all about looking at the smithereens," he said.

Robert Rowe, a former deputy fire marshal in Los Angeles, said collecting useful evidence is painstaking.

"There will be evidence that may not be in its original condition, that needs to be put back together," said Rowe, owner of the firm, Pyrocop. "There will be fragments of material and some of it will have serial numbers on it which may help."

Corry said investigators are often successful finding signs of tampering with pipes or gas lines. One of the most common clues is tool marks on an unscrewed pipe.

"In that case, you start getting search warrants and looking for that tool and trying to match it up," said Corry, an investigator since 1983 who worked in the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal's office.

Corry said while in Massachusetts he made an arrest in a warehouse explosion by linking a single nut to the suspect.

But Richard Meier, a fire and explosion expert at John A. Kennedy and Associates in Sarasota, Fla., said it is also important that detectives don't jump to conclusions.

"The forensics should be divorced from the criminal investigation," he said. "Make sure you are right on what happened first."